First things first, though. Johnson, who got the UFC ax after missing weight for a UFC 142 bout with Vitor Belfort earlier this year, has found new life at light heavyweight. This past weekend, he picked up a head-kick TKO win over fellow UFC vet Jake Rosholt at a regional show in Oklahoma. That followed a 195-pound win over Dave Branch and a 205-pound-debut win of Esteves Jones (via TKO).

Following Saturday’s UFC 152 event in Toronto, White said he’d like to see Johnson (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) get another win in the weight class.

“We’ll see,” he said of Johnson’s potential return. “I like the kid. It’s not like I don’t like him. I want to see him make weight another time and then we’ll (decide). I don’t care what weight he’s at as long as he f—in’ makes weight.”

Of course, that possibility will become less likely if Johnson were to sign with Bellator. While on the topic of releasing and signing fighters, White took aim at Bellator. The organization largely had stayed out of the UFC’s crosshairs over the past four years. However, this past month, prospect Tyson Nam upset Bellator champion Eduardo Dantas at a Shooto event in Brazil.

Some organizations hoped to capitalize on Nam’s status. However, Nam previously had a deal with Bellator, and though he never fought for the organization, officials have used a matching clause in the contract to get in any of the current negotiations.

That didn’t sit well with White.

“I don’t talk much about Bellator, but what they do is one of the dirtiest things you can do in the business,” he said. “It’s dirty, it’s grimy, and it’s just despicable. I have the right to match (contracts), but once I cut a guy and let him go and somebody else tries to sign him, I don’t come back and say, ‘Oh, you’re breaking the contract. I have matching rights.’

“When you made the decision to cut him, you cut him. That’s one of the dirtiest things you can do in the fight business. [Tyson Nam] is not going to make or break the UFC. But the problem is, the dirty scumbag moves that these guys are pulling hurts the fighter. It’s one of the dirtiest, low-down despicable things you can do in the fight business. I have no beef with those guys. They’re doing their own thing, and I could care less. But that’s dirty. It’s borderline criminal.”